


For The Love Of Apples

by Vanessa_Cocotea



Category: Doctor Who: Eighth Doctor Adventures - Various Authors
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-01
Updated: 2014-09-01
Packaged: 2018-02-15 17:02:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2236653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vanessa_Cocotea/pseuds/Vanessa_Cocotea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From 2010:</p><p>The Doctor and Daisy celebrate autumn with mood  rings, poetry, giant bears and apples - LOTS of apples...</p>
            </blockquote>





	For The Love Of Apples

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by my love of apples and my love of autumn. And, yes, Jazz apples are my favourites, along with Ambrosia apples.
> 
> I have a Hello Kitty mood ring just like the one in the story. It conked out on me years ago, though. Before it did, it seemed to be stuck on purple........
> 
> I found the Paul Verlaine poem on one of the advertising panels on the subway and fell in love with it. 
> 
> Being teetotal, I don't drink alcohol. A few years ago, I heard about non-alcoholic wine and tried it. Very good. I enjoy a glass of that on occasion.

'Daisy?'

'Yes, Doctor?'

'How would you like to go to the market?'

'The market? I suppose. Of course, you could make even a dull job like that interesting...So, on second thoughts, yes, all right.'

'Thank you, my dear.' The Doctor executed a swift bow and continued, 'But I'm referring to the weekend street markets at Notting Hill. They're quite interesting all by themselves. One can find all manner of things, including, apparently, "every fruit and vegetable known to man". He grinned at her. 'So, would you like to go shopping? For an autumn picnic? I know just the place to go for that as well.'

'That sounds familiar - "every fruit and vegetable known to man". I know I've heard that from somewhere.' She looked thoughtful, so the Doctor supplied the answer. 'The film, Notting Hill. Remember our movie marathon the other week? You wanted to see it through three times in a row!' He chuckled.

'Oh yes! I love that film! When can we go to the Notting Hill market?'

'No time like the present.' He set the coordinates and went to get several old-fashioned wicker shopping baskets.

********

Daisy stood stock still in the middle of the road, mouth open, eyes totally bugged out. She slowly moved her head from side to side, trying to take it all in. The Doctor grinned. He knew she would be totally "freaked out". When she finally found her voice, all she could say was, 'Holy fuzzbuttons!' - over and over. The Doctor chuckled. 'Come on. What do you say we start with "every fruit and vegetable known to man"?'

'Uh, yeah. Ah...all right.' She still couldn't believe it all truly existed. They walked along and, after a few moments, they noticed quite a crowd at one of the stalls. It was a stall selling the famous 'Jazz' apples. The seller was giving out samples, proclaiming that, 'Once you've tasted these, Ladies and Gents, you'll forget there ARE any other sort of apples!' The Doctor and Daisy moved over for a taste. The Doctor already knew of Jazz apples and heartily agreed they were excellent. He was a bit disappointed that it wasn't the season for the English crop, but the New Zealand variety were quite excellent as well. And he and Daisy could always come back between January and April for more. Daisy bit into her slice and sighed. It was one of the best things she had ever tasted. In the end, they bought several bagfuls. They had to make a special trip back to the TARDIS to off-load. The TARDIS was parked in a disused warehouse, not too far away. In a short while, they were back and making a wide variety of purchases. Their shopping baskets were filled several times over and more trips were made back to off-load. The Doctor finally got a shopping trolley from the TARDIS, muttering he should have done THAT from the start! Have done with the food, they went to investigate some of the other items on offer.

They bought books, CDs and DVDs for their joint enjoyment. Each of them found an assortment of personal goodies as well. The Doctor found a new cravat, in a very unusual design. It was silk, but, into the fabric were woven all manner of birds. It was quite lovely and a pretty multi-colour. Then he spotted a lovely paisley shawl, done in beautiful autumnal colours of cinnamons, browns and golds. He insisted that Daisy MUST have it! She was speechless with awe! She had never HAD such a beautiful thing! She did remember her manners, though, and gave the Doctor a VERY sincere 'Thank you!' - and, not to mention, a very big hug! 'Not at all!' He replied, smiling, and hugged her back. He then insisted she have a fancy new journal and an elegant new pen as she'd nearly finished her previous journal. Daisy was beginning to feel very spoilt, but VERY grateful!

At a jewellery stall, the Doctor found an amazing cloisonne fob watch with a gold chain. It was magnificent. He HAD to have it! He also spied a lovely cloisonne ring for Daisy. She would be very busy saying thank you and giving the Doctor hugs during this trip! Needless to say, he enjoyed that immensely! Then she saw something that made her very curious. There was a stall selling "mood" rings. She asked what THEY were and if they could take a look. 'Certainly!' The Doctor explained what mood rings were on the way to the stall. In the end, Daisy got a "Hello Kitty" mood ring and, in a moment of silliness, so did the Doctor! More silliness - and not a little disbelief, followed when they put the rings on. Daisy's immediately went orange, proclaiming that she was, "wild, brave and adventurous"! She immediately went, "Huh?!", and the Doctor laughed. 'Well, I certainly agree with "brave and adventurous"!' Then he put his on and it went purple, indicating that he was,"overjoyed, passionate and romantic"! The "overjoyed" and "romantic" he could handle, but the "passionate" found him turning red with embarrassment! But, after a moment, and after Daisy had reminded him that there were different kinds of "passionate", he agreed and laughed. He knew the rings were all in fun. It was just the "passionate" bit had - momentarily, caught him off-guard. After that, they decided to call it a day. The Doctor had said it was time for their picnic and Daisy had enthusiastically agreed.

*******

When they got back to the TARDIS, there was a large box sitting in front of the doors. The Doctor dashed over and, after checking the label, immediately shouted, 'Yes!'. He looked at Daisy and, grinning, said, 'I believe I've solved the wine dilemma. Let me introduce you to non-alcoholic wine, my dear! It is regular wine, but it's had the alcohol removed. It has less alcohol than freshly-squeezed orange juice!' Then they went into the TARDIS and the Doctor also explained about "accommodation addresses".

********

About half an hour later, they landed. The Doctor opened the doors. 'Welcome to the Cotswolds, Daisy!' She walked out the doors and gasped! It was beautiful! The trees were in their best autumn colours and the air was fresh and Daisy thought it was amazing! The Doctor brought out the picnic basket and they walked over to a copse of trees, not far away. They feasted on crusty bread, cheshire cheese, the Jazz apples and the non-alcoholic wine - which was wonderful! As they let the meal settle, the Doctor recited a lovely autumn poem to Daisy called, "Chanson d' Automne" - by Paul Verlaine. Daisy laid back and listened to that velvet voice...

'Les saglots longs  
Des violons  
De l'automne  
Blessent mon coeur  
D'une langueur  
Monotone'

He then gave her the English translation:

'When a sighing begins  
In the violins  
Of the autumn-song,  
My heart is drowned  
In the slow sound  
Languorous and long.'

He finished by saying he thought that was a fair translation. Daisy said it was lovely and said thank you again. They spent some time just talking after that, until the Doctor asked Daisy if she'd care to play in the leaves. She replied, somewhat puzzled, 'Okay.' The Doctor seemed to know of the most unusual things to do at times! It was great fun, 'shooshing through the leaves', as the Doctor called it. They both ended up covered in autumn leaves. Then, their visitor arrived...

They had just jumped into a gigantic pile of leaves. The Doctor's green velvet frock coat and even his shoulder-length chestnut curls were covered in leaves, as was Daisy's rust-coloured corduroy overalls, striped long-sleeved t-shirt, brown quilted 'fleur-de-lis' patterned jacket and her own dark brown waist-length hair. Still, her violet eyes were shining, as were the Doctor's pale blue ones. They didn't mind about the leaves. They could brush down their clothes later and also winkle out the leaves from each other's hair. Right at the moment, though, they were just enjoying themselves...until they heard an extraordinary roar...

********

Both the Doctor and Daisy leapt up to see a huge brown bear across the clearing, standing at the edge of the forest. They just stared at each other. A BEAR?? In the COTSWOLDS?? The Doctor looked at the bear, then back at Daisy and said, 'He must be from a zoo or a circus and, having somehow escaped, wound up here.' He started to get slowly up, and continued, 'We should just carefully get our things and get back to the TARDIS. Maybe we can find out where he's from and return him.' Daisy just nodded. A REAL LIVE BEAR! She couldn't believe her eyes! Still, she followed the Doctor towards their picnic site. Fortunately, they were closer to it than the bear - but not for long. He spied them just as they had started packing things up. They were just about done, when the bear came lumbering over - at surprising speed! The Doctor passed Daisy the basket with the rest of the apples they'd been too full to eat and she grabbed the side handle of the picnic basket with her other hand and started to drag it back to the TARDIS as quickly as she could. Then she heard the most extraordinary singing. She glanced back to see the Doctor singing to the bear, who'd stopped in his tracks - completely spell-bound by the song. The Doctor turned to see Daisy listening as well and gestured for her to get back to the TARDIS. She took off, accidentally dropping several apples on the way. The Doctor had been walking backwards as he sang, making his own way back to the TARDIS. The bear kept following him, entranced by the music. That was, until he smelled the apples Daisy had dropped. They were even more compelling than the Doctor's music. The bear made straight for the apples and started eating. The Doctor had an idea...

Whilst the bear was distracted by the free snack, the Doctor asked Daisy - who'd finished returning the picnic things, and was by the TARDIS doors - watching and hoping the Doctor would make it back safely, to bring out the extra bags of apples. He asked her to lay a trail to the TARDIS. The idea was to get the bear into the TARDIS, where all three of them would be safe from harm, courtesy of H.A.D.S., and he could, hopefully, find out where to return the bear. Daisy was full of questions, but she could ask them later. Right now, she went to get the apples and to help the Doctor lay a trail for the bear. The bear, whom the Doctor had dubbed, 'Oliver', had finished the dropped apples and was growling towards them again. He soon found the fresh supply on the trail and was hungrily following the Doctor and Daisy into the TARDIS. Once inside, the Doctor told Daisy where to find a wheeled platform to lure Oliver onto, and thus, make it easier to deliver him to the circus or zoo. While Daisy sought out the platform, the Doctor found a local news channel and discovered that Oliver was missing from a circus. The Doctor set the coordinates and when Daisy got back with the platform, already topped with a couple of bags of apples, he placed more apples directly on the platform and the bear moved onto it, all the while, munching happily away. Both the Doctor and Daisy hoped Oliver wouldn't get sick from all the apples he'd put away, but the bear seemed fine. The Doctor spent the time till they got to the circus explaining to Daisy about H.A.D.S. - the 'Hostile Action Displacement System' and how no one could harm anyone whilst it was in place and gave her answers to all her other questions.

In a few moments, they had arrived in a secluded area on the circus grounds. They got Oliver ready, fully supplied with additional apples, said goodbye to the bear and quietly deposited him on the circus grounds. Later, the circus people would discover their missing bear - seated on the ground with a pile of apples in front of him and a note explaining his recent adventure and noting the bear was immensely fond of Jazz apples!

********

After they'd returned Oliver to his circus, the Doctor popped them a few months into the future and they went on a little shopping trip. By the time they were done, they had enough English Jazz apples to last them for quite a while! The Doctor just HAD to plant the seeds in the appropriate area of the TARDIS and grow his OWN Jazz apples! They really WERE the most amazing apples! Then, since they were both so fond of autumn, he popped them back straightaway to the first day of autumn.

********

That evening the Doctor and Daisy had a lovely supper in the TARDIS library, where the Doctor introduced Daisy to another of his favourite autumn dishes - 'Pommes de Terre d' Automne' - 'Autumn Potatoes'. They were scrumptious and Daisy just HAD to have seconds! It was a lovely meal. The potatoes were accompanied by a greenhouse salad, crusty sourdough bread and, for afters, cheshire cheese and more of the Jazz apples! They had more non-alcoholic wine to drink and it was again pronounced a complete success! With the candlelight, happy conversation and soft music, it made a perfect start to autumn.

********

That night, both Daisy and the Doctor were sound asleep within five minutes of climbing into their beds.

FIN

**Author's Note:**

> A recipe for the potatoes can be found here:
> 
> http://petitmayfaircat.livejournal.com/166794.html


End file.
